Circumferentially traveling type tire mounting and demounting apparatus



NOV. 30, 1954 C, C. ATHMANN 2,695,659

CIRCUMFERENTIALLY TRAVELING TYPE TIRE MOUNTING AND DEMOUNTING APPARATUS Filed June 15, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet l Nov. 30, 1954 c. c. ATHMANN CIRCUMFERENTIALLY TRAVELING TYPE TIRE MOUNTING AND DEMOUNTING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 15, 1949 llrll arzgys United States Patent CIRCUMFERENTIALLY TRAVELING TYPE TIRE MOUNTHNG AND DEMUNTING APPARATUS Chrys fC. Athmann, Melrose, Minn.

Application .lune 15, 1949.SerialNo. 99,214

2 claims. (Cl. 1st- 1.24)

This invention relates to apparatus for mounting and dismounting pneumatic tire casings.

A general object 4of Vthe invention `is to provide a .machine which will initially break the beads of .the tire .casing loose from the rim, and then will successively The above and other objects and advantages .of `the invention will more fully appear from the "following description made in `connection with the .accompanying drawings, wherein like reference characters refer ,to Athe same parts throughout the views, and, in which:

Fig. l is a perspective view of the apparatus `with a` casing thereon and being removed or replaced;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the machine in position for initially breaking the casing beads loose from the rim flanges;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan view with the upper lever unit fbroken away;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view;

.'Fig. 5 is an enlarged front elevational view of the Arim `manipulating shoe;

Fig. `6 is a sectional view `of the shoe of Fig. 5;

7 is an enlarged section taken on the line 7 7 of Pig. 4;

Fig. 8 is a side view rof another form of rotary radial arm, and

Fig. 9 is a section takenon theline 9-9 of Fig. 8.

The apparatus is mounted on va Vframe having a vertical tubular `post 1t) supported .by four legs 11. As shown in Fig. 4, a casing having a circular bottom plate 12 is mounted on the top of the post 10. The plate 12 of the casing has a circular casing wall 13 mounted thereon. On the upper edge of the casing wall 13 is a larger circular top plate 14.

A Vertical shaft 15 extends upwardly through the plate 14 and some distance thereabove. The shaft 15 is supported by a collar 17, having a set screw 17a therein and resting upon the upper end of a sleeve 18, which is secured to and extends upwardly from the center of the large circular plate 14. About this sleeve is a flanged collar 19 having three rim clamping arms 20 pivotally connected thereto and extending outwardly therefrom. These arms have their outer ends slidably supported by studs 21 which extend upwardly from the large plate 14. A lever 22 is formed integrally with and extends radially outwardly from the anged collar 19. Its outer end carries a stud 23 which extends through an arcuate slot 24 in the plate 14. This stud 23 is threaded into a nut 25 which in turn is mounted on a threaded crank 26. When the crank is rotated, the lever 22 will swing about the shaft 15 and relative to the plate 14. This will cause the rim clamping arms to move inwardly or outwardly, depending upon the direction of movement of the crank.

A pair of small blocks 27 is mounted on the under side of the plate 14. Spaced arms 28 are pivotally connected to the blocks, and these arms extend beneath .thezplate 14 at 4opposite sides of the Acasing .wall 13. As show-n in Fig. 3, the arms `28 have CQllVerging forward portions 28a `and .at their .front .ends are Yconnected yto a.cl1annelshaped lever ,29 which curves upwardly above .the plate 14 for a considerable distance. A hand 4lever 30 is pivotally connected 4to .the lever 29 at .31, and .this hand llever extends forwardly above Vthe remainder of .the machine in one position thereof `which is .Shown in Fig. 2, but can be swung upwardly and :rearwardly A.to `the raised position yshown in Fig. ,1.

The hand lever 30 extends slightly Ibeyond the `pivot 3.1 ,and .carries across AStud .32 .upon which is a sleeve ,33. A tension vspring 3,4 is connected between. .the sleeve 33 .and a casing bead engaging `s'hoe 35 which is pivotally carried `by a bar 36 which extends between the spaced arms 2,8. This shoe has a general-ly -upstanding curved .blade portion 37.

.Piyotally connected to the `flanged collar 19 is ahead shoe .adjusting lever 38. This lever has an elongated lslot 39 therein, and .a guide pin 40 extends through the slot `and is vanchored `in the large plate 1.4. When the crank 26 is rotated .to extend the rim `clamping arms`20 outwardly, the bead shoe adjusting lever 38 will .also novegutwardly and similarly `move the pivoted bead s oe. t

The ,hand lever 30 has a bead shoe 4.1 pivotally supported thereby. This `shoe is shown to .extend downwardly `and generally toward the yirst described ,bead shoe 3.5, .37.

Within lthe circular casing at the upper en d of the :post .10, and mounted `on the 4shaft 15, is .a worm Agear 42. Meshedwith it isa Iworm 43, at least one end of which extends outwardly through the .circular casing .Wall land has a pulley44 thereon. The pulley isponnected by ya belt 45 `.to ,a ypulley `onethe shaft .46 .of a vmotor .47. The motor is conveniently provided `with a foot control 48 pivotally carried by one of `the legs 11 and connected to a `suitable switch 48a.

The vertical shaft 15 `has a `collar 49 mounted on ,its upper end portion. The shaft is flatted yalong one side ras shown at `50, .and a set screw 5-1 is threaded through lthe .collar .49 and bears against :the flatted portion lofthe .shaft so thatthe `collar will rotate with the shaft.

A tubular `member 52 extends outwardly and downwardly .from the collar -4-9. Longitudinally slidable in yit is a post.,53 having a casing :bead manipulating blade .f5.4 thereon; This blade Vhas .a Abutton 55 4extending .011twardly therefrom. The tubular member -52 has a :fork

:57 :extending upwardly from its uouter end. Lying in the :fork `is `the .reduced .portion y5,8 .of fa circular nut '59,

`which is `threadedly carried `on a `threaded shaft `6.0.

This shaft extends from .the casing bead manipulating .blade 54 .and lies :above `the tubular .member.-`52 .and vpost 53. Turning `ofthe nut .5.9.will .move :the;blade :54

inwardly and outwardly relatively to the vertical shaft 15.

When a tire casing is to be removed from a rim, the wheel and tire are laid upon the plate 14, the shaft 15 extending up through the central opening of the wheel. Around a portion of the edge of the plate 14 adjacent the arcuate slot 24 are marks 61, representing diiferent wheel or rim sizes. The crank 26 can be turned to bring the lever 22 to a point just short of the wheel size indication desired, before placing the wheel in position. Then `the crank is turned to cause the arms 20 to expand against the inner circumference of the rim. Since the arms 20 all move together, the wheel will be automatically centered on the apparatus.

As the rim or wheel is clamped in position as described above, the bead breaker shoe adjusting lever 38 will be moved corerspondingly and will locate the lower bead breaker shoe 37 in the proper position to contact the edge of the lower bead of the tire casing. The hand lever 30 is then swung down to bring the upper bead breaker shoe 41 into contact with the edge of the upper bead of the tire casing. This shoe is shown to be angular in shape so that it will travel downwardly until the angle engages the wheel rim. When the hand lever is pulled down, in-

ward pressure will be applied transversely of the tire and the bead is pried up or olf the rim. The bead manipulating blade 54 is adjusted outwardly and vertically so that it will lie approximately as shown in Fig. 4, with the upper bead of the tire casing lying upon the button 55. The motor control member is pressed with the foot and the arms 52, 53 will rotate, carrying the bead manipulating shoe 54 about in a circular path. The button 55 will lift the tire bead as it rotates until the entire upper bead has been removed from the rim. Then the inner tube can be removed and repaired if necessary.

If it is desired to remove the casing entirely from the rim, the other bead can be removed in the same manner as just described.

When a tire casing is to be placed on a rim, one side is put on at a time. The shoe 54 is slipped between the rim and the bead, the button 55 riding upon the upper edge of the bead being replaced. When the arm 52, 53 is rotated, the button 55 will force succeeding portions of the bead downwardly past the rim ange. When the arm 52, 53 has completed one revolution it is stopped and the arm is moved upwardly on the vertical shaft 15 to remove the shoe 54 from between the rim and bead of the tire casing. After both beads have been replaced in this manner, said arm is completely removed from the shaft and the wheel and tire can be taken from the apparatus, the clamping arms 20, of course, having been loosened to free the rim.

Figs. 8 and 9 illustrate a little dilerent form of rotary arm unit.v There is shown a vertical sleeve 75 which is adapted to be mounted on the vertical post 15. A tubular permits the sleeve 75 to be relatively tightly engaged with the vertical post 15, but prevents it from locking so that it is difficult to remove.

The sleeve 75 has a diagonally disposed tubular barrel 80 welded thereto. A screw threaded member 81 is threaded through the end 82 of the barrel S0 and its inner end bears against a rod 83 which is longitudinally slidable in the tubular arm 80. The outer end of the rod 83 has a shoe 84 mounted thereon, said shoe being generally perpendicular, as shown in Fig. 8, and turned on its vertical axis to a slight angle as indicated in Fig. 9. On the outer face of the shoe 84 adjacent one lower corner thereof is a button 85 similar to the button 55 shown on the shoe 54 in the first described embodiment.

The shoe 84 has an upward and inward extension 86 and this is connected by the tension spring 87 to the tubular arm 80 so that the shoe unit will slide inwardly when the screw 81 is backed up.

The apparatus is adapted for use in tire shops where a great number of tires are mounted and/or dismounted. Ordinarily a large number of tires of the same size is handled, so that there is no great amount of adjustment needed. It is particularly useful for handling truck tires having drop center rims, and other types where they are 4 new and tight or may have been on the rim for a long time and have become rusted to the rim.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made in the form, details, arrangement and proportions of the various parts without departing from the scope of my invention.

What I claim is:

1. In a tire tool, a support having a horizontal shelf, means for securing a wheel rim upon said shelf, a shaft rotatably carried by said support and extending vertically above said shelf, a collar mounted about said shaft to turn therewith and being shiftable vertically along the shaft to adjusted positions, a tubular arm extending from said collar at a downward incline, a post slidable longitudinally in and projecting outwardly from said arm and at its outer end carrying a vertically disposed blade adapted to fit between a tire bead and a wheel rim, a bead engaging member projecting from said blade, a threaded stem projecting rearwardly from said blade and overlapping said arm, a saddle carried by said arm, and a nut upon said stem rotatably supported by said saddle.

2. A tire casing mounting and demounting tool comprising a support on which a tire-carrying rim is adapted to be placed at rest upon one side, a shaft rotatably carried by said support and projecting upwardly therefrom, a collar removably carried by said shaft and turning therewith, an arm extending laterally from said collar at a downward incline and of less length than a radius of the rim receiving portion of the support, a post slidable along said arm to adjusted positions and projecting from the outer end thereof, said post at its outer end carrying a blade projecting downwardly in position for tting between a wheel rim and a bead of a tire, a bead engaging member projecting outwardly from the lower portion of said blade, a threaded stem extending rearwardly from the upper portion of said blade and overlapping said arm, fingers projecting from said arm and spaced from each other transversely thereof, and a nut upon said stem formed with a circumferentially extending groove in which said fingers it and rotatably mount the nut.

References Cited in the lile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Henderson Sept. 2, 1952 

